Who wants to be Sifted?Â I know it doesnâ€™t sound like much fun, does it?Â When we first picked the Sifted theme for the Exponential 2012 Conference, I wasnâ€™t a big fan.Â Iâ€™m more of a big picture and positive sort of guy so thinking about being sifted made me cringe a little.Â As we continued to develop this theme, I began to realize this is exactly what we need to be talking about.Â God allows us to be â€œsiftedâ€ (Luke 22:31-32) through trials and temptations to grow us as followers and leaders.Â How we respond as church leaders not only shapes who we become, but also those who we lead because we reproduce who we are.

The previous posts in our series highlighted that â€œsiftingâ€ is defined as worldly trouble, producing increased surrender to God.Â God knows how to creatively allow just the right challenges to bring humility and increased dependence on him.Â Today we expand the definition to include spiritual warfare.

Itâ€™s eternally significant work to launch a new church. Itâ€™s crucial to understand that the church planting process is filled with worldly troubles.Â Trouble is normal!Â Joy comes in knowing that God has equipped us with a great calling, and that many people will find Him through freedom in Christ.

My wife, Zarat, and I are immersed in launching Vertical Church in Atlanta GA in two weeks.Â Â The journey has certainly sifted us.Â Weâ€™ve had so many opportunities to be discouraged.Â Â We are planting in a very poor, urban context among college students.Â Like most planters, weâ€™ve had to raise all of our financial support against seemingly impossible odds.Â Â Our son, Damian Jr., has cerebral palsy and requires special care and schooling.Â Our extended families live in other states.

We asked each speaker (over 100) that will be at Exponential 2012 to write a short candid essay (500 to 700 words) on a personal story of sifting from his or her lives.Â Â We post at least one of these stories each day via the Stories of Sifted web site.Â Â The stories are powerful testimonies to how God is at work in and through his people.Â Collectively, these stories remind us that he does not give us more than we can handle if we trust him.

As noted in previous posts, Jesus promised that we would have trouble in this world.Â He prayed for us that we might be protected from the evil one when the day of trouble comes.Â He knew that the spiritual warfare of the evil one seeking to take captive our minds would be a greater challenge to us than the physical trouble itself.Â Â God uses our worldly troubles, intersected with spiritual warfare (mental attacks from the evil one) to produce increased surrender in us to Him.

We continue our emphasis on personal sifting. Today’s post includes an overview of Wayne Cordeiro’s (with Francis Chan and Larry Osborne) new book, “Sifted”. Sifted is the theme of the 2012 Exponential Conference in Orlando, Florida on April 23-26, 2012. Wayne’s new book debuts in the Exponential Series at the 2012 conference in April. Click here to listen to an interview between Wayne Cordeiro and Dave Ferguson on Sifting.

Overview of Sifted

In Sifted, pastor and seasoned church leader Wayne Cordeiro speaks the truth in love, offering wisdom and insight to prepare leaders as they face the difficulties and hardships of planting and leading churches, while providing encouragement and inspiration for the journey.

Wayne shares the things he wishes he’d known when he was starting a new church. With additional stories from Francis Chan and Larry Osborne, each chapter includes a thought-provoking challenge question to develop a heart that is surrendered to God, focused on being and becoming versus doing and accomplishing.

Francis Chan is a great friend to church planters and Exponential.Â We interviewed Francis to get his thoughts on the theme of “sifting” in our lives.Â Â Francis had some great words to share.Â Â Click here to check out a short 3 minute video of Francis talking about sifting.

Here are a few other sifted resources to check out:

1.Â Exponential 2012 – the theme of the conference is “Sifted” based on the newest book in the Exponential Series called “Sifted” by Wayne Cordeiro with Francis Chan and Larry Osborne

4.Â 20 Leaders in 20 Days – Starting on February 6, the Stories of Sifted web site will feature daily devotionals featuring the stories of sifting in leaders from the Bible.Â The devotionals will continue throughout February and will challenge church leaders to a single question each day.Â The purpose is to help leaders pursue and embrace the stories of sifting that God is writing in each leader’s life.Â Â Subscribe to the Stories of Sifted RSS feed to automatically receive the devotional posts each day.

In our previous post in the Sifted blog series, we looked at what Jesus said about sifting.

Jesus promised that we would have trouble in this world. Â Trouble is of the physical world and often the product of external factors often beyond our control.Â Worry is emotional and the product of the evil one working on our minds. Â Jesus asked God to protect us from the evil one when the day of trouble comes.Â Â He could have asked God to take away our trouble but instead he asked God to protect us from the evil oneâ€™s attacks on our minds during the trouble.

Sifting is the process of facing lifeâ€™s troubles and enduring by allowing Jesus to take captive our thoughts rather than the evil one.Â Yielding to Jesusâ€™ captivity strengthens our faith.

The Apostle Paul knew trouble.Â From flogging to hunger to imprisonment to fear of death, he faced it all.Â Amidst it all he said, â€œin all our troubles my joy knows no bounds.â€Â In, through, and because of his sifting, he learned the secret to â€œbeing content in any and every situation.â€Â In todayâ€™s post, we look at ten truths about sifting that we learn from Paulâ€™s life. (more…)

In our last post that kicked off the Sifted blog series, we discussed why the issue of sifting is vitally important in the life of a Christian leader.Â Â In a nutshell, sifting is unavoidable. Itâ€™s the weapon of choice used by God to accelerate the spiritual growth of his children.Â Contrary to our natural human inclinations, embracing sifting, and even pursuing it, is a catalyst for growing more like Jesus.

In todayâ€™s post, we pursue a working definition of sifting.

Most of us prefer to avoid it!

A key assumption in our national platforming of the Sifted theme is that most of us would prefer to avoid it; weâ€™d rather pursue new innovations, new strategies, and other tactics to grow our churches.Â Â The hard work of personal sifting is simply not sexy.Â Â Itâ€™s messy.Â But, itâ€™s unavoidably necessary as a foundation for healthy reproducing leaders.

He was successful in business, and in his new non-profit career he was the natural leader of the group.Â He was often set apart by the founder, indicating some special anointing.Â He was the first in the group to confidently call Jesus â€œthe Messiah, the Son of the Living God.â€Â Â He was the only one to step out of the boat and try to walk on water.Â He was even called out by Jesus as the one upon whom Jesus would build his church.

Peter and Judas were both sifted with radically different outcomes!

Peter was full of zeal, pursuing the greatest cause of his lifetime.Â Â Although heâ€™d sacrificially left everything behind to follow Jesus, his new life of significance had him riding a high.Â He said heâ€™d do anything for Jesus, including fight to his death.Â Â He was a Type A, High D (on the DISC profile), self-starter and entrepreneur.

He was, in many ways, the profile of most church planters.Â And like most planters, he was about to experience loneliness, discouragement, grief, fear, and a host of other emotions.Â He would even question, and deny his calling.Â He would be â€œSifted!â€